Posts by Erudite Luddite

Ten classic electronic calculators from the 1970s and 1980s

Re: All these comments...

Beat me to it! Although I recall the apposite numerical plural being 5318008

:)

Climate change made sea levels fall in 2010 and 2011

Occam's razor...

... There is no global warming?

(Personally I still adhere to the phlogiston theory)

Three curbs data tariff excesses

I'm still waiting for 3 to reply my query as to why you can get unlimited internets for £15 a month on a SIM only deal (or for £25 by tethering a smartphone to your laptop on the One Plan) but a mere max of 15Gb per month when popping a 3 SIM into a MiFi or WiBE (when using mobile BB as a replacement for a slooow ADSL connection in the back of beyond).

Actually I can guess the answer, but I just like asking questions.

One last production run for TouchPad

HTC Flyer is now down to £329

The WiFi version of the HTC Flyer is now down to £329 @ Carphone Warehouse (from a previously ridiculous £479).

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/HTC-FLYER-WIFI/HANDSET

That's *starting* to get closer to a realistic purchase price...

eBay revenue shrinks for first time in history

Baffled

Have been interested in a variety of items (camera, lenses, notebooks) and been searching on eBay for a month now.

It baffles me why:

1) The majority of (alleged) "buyers" seem happy paying 80%+ of the NEW price for something secondhand from an unknown seller.

2) Some items go for way over 100% of the new price (e.g. HP 2133).

3) Anyone would want to bid against other bidders whose identity is hidden.

Madness!

eBay used to be a great place to buy 2nd hand. But no more. Might as well buy new, or secondhand from a proper retailer with a guarantee.

CRB database wrongly labels thousands as criminals

A "good" error rate??

"That is an error rate of 0.085%, which is staggeringly good"

Um... Unless you happen to be one of the thousands affected? Statistics have no interest in the individual. I trust you never have to right a wrong on your credit and/or criminal record.

If (for the sake of argument using a random and made up number) DNA fingerprinting provides "accuracy" (actually a probablility of uniqueness) to a level of 1 in 30 million... then, to me, that means there's someone else in the UK who can be fingered for that crime (or vice versa).

"Where were YOU on the night of the fifth...?"